In order to develop transferable and practical avenues for the assembly of coordination complexes into architectures with specific dimensionality, a strategy utilizing ligands capable of simultaneous metal coordination and self-complementary hydrogen bonding is presented. The three ligands used, 2(1H)-pyrazinone, 4(3H)-pyrimidinone and 4(3H)-quinazolinone, consistently deliver the required synthetic vectors in a series of CdII coordination polymers, allowing for reproducible supramolecular synthesis that is insensitive to the different steric and geometric demands from potentially disruptive counterions. In all nine crystallographically characterized compounds presented here, directional intermolecular N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds between ligands on adjacent complex building blocks drive the assembly and orientation of discrete building blocks into largely predictable topologies. Furthermore, whether the solids are prepared from solution or through liquid-assisted grinding, the structural outcome is the same, thus emphasizing the robustness of the synthetic protocol. The details of the molecular recognition events that take place in this series of compounds have been clearly delineated and rationalized in the context of calculated molecular electrostatic potential surfaces.
Keywords: coordination compounds; crystal engineering; electrostatic potential; hydrogen bonds; synthons.